My trip to the track...

I finally made it back to the track last night to try out some of the suggestions. The only changes to the car was the resetting of the fuel bowl levels. I also got my adjustable strut rods installed and the front end was aligned for the first time using technology instead of my tape measure. The car rolls down the road even better.

The track was running an "Underground Arm Drop Drags" which meant the track wasn't prepped past the first 60ft. I don't think my car challenges the track much past the 60ft mark, so this could work. On my first pass hot off the street I got a little eager off the line which resulted in the following

60ft 2.036
330ft 5.636
660ft 8.674
MPH 80.70
1000 11.306
1/4 13.541
MPH 100.85

I let the car cool off for a few minutes before I went back up and staged the car as shallow as possible where you just lean on the converter a bit to wink on the bottom bulb. I managed to hit the right amount of throttle to keep the car hooked up resulting in the following pass.

60ft 1.894
330ft 5.452
660ft 8.469
MPH 80.95
1000 11.087
1/4 13.310
MPH 101.52

That set a new best for every stat. I have to admit I hung the shifts out to 6000 RPM, instead of the previous 5800 RPM.

You all suggested I explore more timing, so that was next on the agenda. Back in the pits I checked the initial timing and found it was set ay 16.5 degrees initial. I set the timing to 18 degrees and wondered if this would be too much timing. I headed back to the starting line and managed another masterful launch and got the following:


60ft 1.895
330ft 5.456
660ft 8.465
MPH 81.24
1000 11.075
1/4 13.289
MPH 101.86

This sort of shocked me as my old 340 hated a lot of timing, but this 360 is a different beast. If some is good then more must be better...right? Back in the pit I dialed in 20 degrees of timing and headed back to the starting line. The car was harder to get off the line hooked up resulting in the following:

60ft 1.922
330ft 5.457
660ft 8.444
MPH 82.07
1000 11.034
1/4 13.233
MPH 102.58

You can see the times fall off out the 330ft due to the spin off the line, but from there on out it just ran better and pulled harder. I needed to find out the limits of the timing, so back in the pit I dialed in 22 degrees initial. Back on the starting line the combination of the additional torque on tap and the starting line getting slicker resulted in the following:

60ft 1.981
330ft 5.532
660ft 8.524
MPH 82.06
1000 11.117
1/4 13.320
MPH 102.34

I attempted another pass trying to ease off the line and get the 60ft back to no avail as the tire spun off the line.

60ft 2.034
330ft 5.604
660ft 8.601
MPH 81.86
1000 11.199
1/4 13.407
MPH 102.05

Back in the pits I readjusted the timing to 20.5 degrees initial and made another pass which resulted in the following:

60ft 1.940
330ft 5.482
660ft 8.470
MPH 82.11
1000 11.061
1/4 13.263
MPH 102.26


I let the car cool off for 30 minutes and made one last pass for the night. The starting line was becoming very challenging resulting in the following:

60ft 2.040
330ft 5.582
660ft 8.561
MPH 82.34
1000 11.146
1/4 13.344
MPH 102.58

So what did I learn? The 360 likes timing to the tune of 20-22 degrees initial. The engine likes to be shifted around 6000 as opposed to 5800 RPM. As the tune gets sharper the traction is becoming an issue. I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I am thinking I need to borrow a set of drag radials. What would you try next in the search for ET?